Iran to join Shanghai organization next week: Lavrov

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Jun 2023 17:32
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announces that Iran is to join SCO next week, knowing that Belarus may also become a member.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Public Diplomacy Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)

Iran will be formally accepted as a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which includes China, Russia, and Central Asian countries.

"At the meeting of heads of state on July 4, the full membership of Iran will be approved," Lavrov said at the opening of an SCO center in Moscow.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has its headquarters in China, is a diplomatic organization with eight members, including India and Pakistan.

Membership in the SCO was already planned, and Iran hopes to be accepted quickly into another grouping that excludes Western countries, the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

SCO nations may sign memorandum on Belarus' Membership: Minsk

Moreover, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states may finalize the signing of a memorandum on commitments for Belarus to become a member of the organization at the July summit in India, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Ambrazevich said on Friday.

While speaking at the Belarusian parliament, Ambrazevich said, "To ensure Belarus' accession to the SCO in an accelerated format, not in two years, but in one year ... We have signed a memorandum on Belarus' commitments to become an SCO member state. The memorandum is expected to be signed by all other participants of the organization during the next meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State, which will be held in July 2023 in India."

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According to the Deputy Minister, in order to join the SCO, the Belarusian parliament and all SCO states must ratify the memorandum, and the country must sign all of the agreements mentioned in the document. Following that, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry will notify SCO members of Minsk's accession and formalize its acceptance of the obligations outlined in several other treaties.

What does the bill include?

Ambrazevich submitted a bill to the parliament on Friday, which provides for the consolidation of domestic procedures for 22 such treaties with seven amendments to them, subject to ratification by the Belarusian parliament. The lower house of parliament has adopted the bill.

The bill specifically proposes accession to the SCO's basic legal documents, which ensure the organization's functioning, such as the SCO Charter and the agreement on the establishment and implementation of the SCO budget, as well as treaties on specific areas of cooperation, such as the convention on combating terrorism.

What would Belarus' accession mean?

Ambrazevich stressed that "Belarus' accession to these treaties will demonstrate to our partners the real possibility of formalizing Belarus' membership in the shortest possible time if there is the appropriate political will. This will be a clear example when we ask all SCO members to complete the necessary domestic procedures and make a decision on our country's membership as soon as possible."

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He added that Belarus sees the SCO as an important regional organization for combating various threats and that joining will help Belarus strengthen its position in the international arena.

The Deputy Minister noted that cooperation with SCO countries on a bilateral basis is developing dynamically. Moreover, Belarus is currently an SCO observer. The document on the start of Belarus' admission to the SCO was signed following the organization's summit in Samarkand on September 15-16, 2022.

President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree in February approving the memorandum on the republic's obligations to become an SCO member.